"A first draft was completed by August, possibly earlier. And then the deletions and other changes began - behind closed doors - in what amounted to an effort to downplay the failures of city and LAFD leadership in preparing for and fighting the Jan. 7 fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes, records obtained by The Times show."
"In one instance, LAFD officials removed language saying that the decision not to fully staff up and pre-deploy all available crews and engines ahead of the extreme wind forecast "did not align" with the department's policy and procedures during red flag days. Instead, the final report said that the number of engine companies rolled out ahead of the fire "went above and beyond the standard LAFD pre-deployment matrix.""
"Other changes in the report, which was overseen by then-interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva, seemed similarly intended to soften its impact and burnish the Fire Department's image. Two drafts contain notes written in the margins, including a suggestion to replace the image on the cover page - which showed palm trees on fire against an orange sky - with a "positive" one, such as "firefighters on the frontline," the note said. The final report's cover displays the LAFD seal."
A first draft of the after-action report was completed by August, and subsequent deletions and rewrites were made behind closed doors. Public records show changes removed language that criticized decisions not to fully staff up and pre-deploy crews ahead of an extreme wind forecast, replacing criticism with praise of pre-deployment. Passages noting crews waited more than an hour for assignments were deleted, a section titled "failures" was renamed "primary challenges," and references to violated national firefighter-safety guidelines were scratched. Notes in draft margins suggested swapping the fiery cover image for a more positive one; the final cover shows the LAFD seal.
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